The County of Fontao is a title of Spanish nobility granted on 8 January 1840 by the Queen Isabella II to Don José María Moscoso y Quiroga, first President of the

Senate of Spain The Senate () is the upper house of the , which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. The presiding officer of the ...

after the creation of this upper chamber in 1837. His name refers to the Galician old “Señorio” (Lordship) of Fontao situated in the province of

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

. Famous members include the 1st Count who was President of the Cortes and then Minister of the Police to King

Ferdinand VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

during the

Trienio Liberal The , () or Three Liberal Years, was a period of three years in Spain between 1820 and 1823 when a liberal government ruled Spain after a military uprising in January 1820 by the lieutenant-colonel Rafael del Riego against the absolutist rule ...

and later

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

to Queen Isabella II and the first

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

when this chamber was created in 1837. Other famous members include his great-grandson, the 4th Count, Don José Moreno Osorio, prestigious railway engineer who was president and general manager of the North Rail Transportation Company and after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, vice president of

RENFE Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...

, the Spanish national railway and “ Gentilhombre de camara” (Gentleman of the Bedchamber) to the King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

. He was, in fact, the engineer who, during the decade of 1920 brought from

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Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

the techniques of the

railway electrification system Railway electrification is the use of electric power for the propulsion of rail transport. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), electric multiple units ( passenger cars with their own ...

. The latter's son, the 5th Count, Don Alfredo Moreno Uribe, was also vice president of

. The nephew of the latter, the present and 8th Count is Don Jose Manuel Romero Moreno, also 10th Marquis of San Saturnino. The 8th Count is the legal counsellor of the household and family of King

Juan Carlos I of Spain Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until Abdication of Juan Carlos I, his abdic ...

. Equally, he is the president of the CEAR and the vice president of the FRIDE Foundations. He is institutional member of the Club of Madrid and member of the Board of the Trustees of Patrimonio Nacional.

Counts of Fontao

# Don José María Moscoso y Quiroga, 1st Count of Fontao. 1840–1854. Married to Doña María Antonia Taboada y Bueno. # Doña Sofía Moscoso y Taboada, 1854–1869. 2nd Countess of Fontao, daughter of the 1st Count. Married to Don José Moreno Sopranís. # Don Alfredo Moreno Moscoso, 1869–1921. 3rd Count of Fontao, son of the 2nd Countess. Married to Doña María Antonia Osorio Chacón. # Don José Moreno Osorio, 1921–1963. 4th Count of Fontao, son of the 3rd Count. Married to Doña María Uribe Garrido. # Don Alfredo Moreno Uribe, 1969–1981. 5th Count of Fontao, son of the 4th Count, also 8th Marquis of San Saturnino. Married to Doña Ana Rosa Gomez y Rodulfo. Without issue the title was inherited by his sister # Doña María Moreno Uribe 1981–1983, 6th Countess of Fontao, also 9th Marchioness of San Saturnino. Without issue the title was inherited by her sister # Doña Pilar Moreno Uribe 1983–1993, 7th Countess of Fontao, Married to Don Carlos Romero de Lecea. # Don Jose Manuel Romero Moreno 1993- current holder, 8th Count of Fontao, also 10th Marquis of San Saturnino. Married to Doña Ana Duplá del Moral

References

* Elenco de Grandezas y Títulos Nobiliarios españoles. Instituto "Salazar y Castro", C.S.I.C. Counts of Spain 1840 establishments in Spain